From what I've heard, Dogen Zenji really appreciated his student Tetsu Gikai, and he was almost ready to make him a successor, but he wanted him to work more on realizing this grandmother mind, and he felt that Tetsu Gikai would finally understand and realize it. And Tetsu Gikai said, I really appreciate this admonition, this warning from the Buddha, from Dogen, I don't quite understand what he means, but I will, you know, keep it in

[01:06]

my heart. And not too long after that, Dogen died, and not too long after that, the record that Gikai kept about his own development says that something changed in him, and he said something like, that he had heard his teacher say that the rituals of the Buddha way are the Buddha way. And he heard that, he heard it, but he didn't really agree

[02:09]

with his teacher on that point. He thought there must be something more to Buddhism than just these Buddha forms. But then he says, but I've changed. Something has changed in me, and now I see that, now I have confidence in my teacher's way, or this aspect of my teacher's way, that the Buddha way is the forms of deportment of the Buddha.

[03:18]

And I'll say again that at this time, in this way, he saw actually the connection between his confidence in his teacher and his teacher's repeated admonition on this point of grandmotherly mind. Grandmotherly mind, for Dogen, at the core actually, is that the ways of acting as a Buddha are the Buddha way. That apart from wholehearted devotion to the forms and ceremonies of the tradition, there is no other reality. So, his teacher

[04:36]

just said grandmotherly mind, but finally he understood grandmotherly mind meant that point that he didn't understand. And in the instructions to the cook, which Dogen wrote, and somebody maybe can do some research to see if it was written before Gikai was the head cook, I don't know, I didn't check it, but anyway, it's possible that he wrote that just to make this point, to teach Gikai the vast mind, the big mind, the joyful mind, and the grandmother mind. But in some sense, the grandmother mind is the mind that emphasizes this point, that the Buddha way must be enacted, you have to put on a performance of it, and

[05:43]

aside from that performance, there is no other reality. The big mind is not the performance, but the big mind, which is not a performance, is not anything in addition to the performance. And without the big mind, there is no Buddha way. And without the grandmother mind, there is no Buddha way. But big mind, nothing you can do about it, it's always there. It's this mind of the Buddha which is like space, it doesn't come and go. But if we don't enact that vast mind, and if we don't enact it joyfully and wholeheartedly, in form, then the Buddha

[06:44]

way does not live in the world. In the precept ceremony we had the other night, I wrote on the back of the robes that the people received in the ceremony, I wrote some of Dogen's comments on some of the Bodhisattva precepts. For example, Dogen's comment on the precept of not lying is no excess and no deficiency. The Dharma wheel has all inclusively turned, there is no excess and no deficiency. One moistening of sweet dew bears actuality and truth. And

[07:51]

another comment Dogen made on the tenth, that's the precept of not lying, or not speaking falsely, on the comment on the precept of not disparaging the triple treasure, Dogen's comment is, previously I translated it with Khasdon Hashi as, the commentary on don't disparage the Buddha Dharma Sangha, the commentary was translated as, the body is manifested, the Dharma is unfolded, or unfurled, and there is a bridge in the world for crossing over. But I looked at the characters when I was writing this out on Persons Rocks, and I saw two things which I didn't see before, little parentheses here, Buddhist teachers

[09:02]

continue to study and see new things their whole life. So I studied this which I translated and looked at before, but this time I saw where it says, the body is manifested, the Dharma is unfolded. I looked up the character for unfolded and the character means unfolded or unfurl or extend, but it also means enact and perform. So another translation which I like better now is, the body is manifested, the Buddha, and the Dharma is enacted, and because the Dharma is enacted there is a bridge in the world for crossing over. Without the

[10:12]

bridge in the world for crossing over the point of Buddhism is not fulfilled. We've got the big Buddha, we've got the Buddha's teaching, but we have to perform the Buddha's teaching so there's a bridge for beings to cross over. And again, two ways of translating that, one is there's a bridge in the world for crossing over, another translation would be there's a bridge for crossing over the world. I ask people, which way do you like better? They're both good, we need the bridge in the world for crossing over the world, and in order to have the bridge we have to perform the Dharma. And Suzuki Roshi all used to say, you know, we have this nice Azan practice we do in the Zendo, this is one of the ways we perform the Dharma, by sitting still, together, nobody before or after, nobody coming

[11:25]

and going, nobody gaining or losing. We just sit as Buddha, we enact the Dharma by sitting here, and Suzuki Roshi of course said, that's really important, it's wonderful, but what's really important is to extend this practice into daily life, and I would say what's really important is to perform this practice in daily life, which includes performing the ritual of sitting in the Zendo. Apart from this enactment, there's no reality, there's no Buddhadharma, there's no Buddha way. This is what Gikai finally saw, and then he said, even if there is some cosmic universal Buddha way in addition to this enactment, it comes

[12:34]

down to the same thing. He finally realized grandmother mind and then Ejo made him a successor in the tradition. It seems to me he had the joyful mind, he was very joyful about his working in the community and he had a big mind, he realized the big mind, but this grandmotherly mind was the last one for him to understand, and again, yesterday, I'm sorry I said, I think you need to work on this grandmother mind, I meant that because people are coming to me and kind of complaining about this, not believing this grandmother mind, in other way, but I don't mean to say you do it, we do, I need to work on it too. We need to do this together to realize this grandmother mind so that we can, if we wish to be successors

[13:36]

of Dogen, we have to realize this grandmother mind, we have to realize the importance of performing the Dharma in the world. So there's a bridge, so beings can cross over on the back of the performer. You know, and I wondered, why do you say grandmotherly mind and in the instructions to the cook he said, well the grandmotherly mind, which some people translate as parental mind, but literally it says old grandma, you know, ro-ba, ro means old, like in Roshi, old teacher, ro-ba means old grandma mind or old grandma heart, doesn't really say parental, but parental is okay. His example is, like a parent who will give everything

[14:42]

for their child, you know, regardless of their own, what, cold and fever, they cover the child or give the child the shade, they don't think of themselves at all. So this, yeah, this is grandmother mind, right? Anything for your grandchildren. Maybe grandmother mind is, I don't know what, maybe it's easier for grandmothers, they don't have much time left anyway, and they usually don't have any nice new boyfriends, so it's easy for them to be totally devoted to their grandchildren, also, you know, they only have to do it part-time. So that's part of the grandmother mind, but the part that Dogen was pointing to is to be that way about the triple treasure, that you don't worry about yourself, all you care

[15:49]

about is the Buddha, the Dharma and the bridge in the world for beings to cross over. You care about the triple treasure like a grandmother or grandfather cares about their only grandchild, like a mother or father cares about their only child, you care about enacting the Dharma in that way. Not like, well, it's like, well, yeah, it's nice that we have these forms, right? And I'm not complaining really, but it may sound like that, but you know, at Zen Center, there's some resistance to saying the first precept as, I vow to embrace and sustain regulations and ceremonies. A lot of people at Zen Center don't like the word ceremonies and regulations, yeah, get out of my face, a little bit of that, rather than understanding that these traditional ceremonies are the Buddha way. So there's a little bit of a grandmotherly

[16:54]

mind problem here among us, with me too. So, we have to be careful about this, be grandmotherly about this grandmotherly mind. Grandmothers are not disciplinarians, usually, but they are. So again, part of the background of Dogen's emphasis with this person named Gikai, is Gikai came from a form of practice, a community of practitioners who were charged with, maybe they weren't really that way, but they were charged with being antinomian, and antinomian, the root of it means, against the law, and

[17:57]

in parentheses, against moral law, in the sense that, for example, belief in the law in the good news, in the Christian tradition, or belief in the good news in the Buddhist tradition, the good news in the Buddhist tradition is, you all, in reality, are the Buddha nature. The belief in your inherent enlightenment is sufficient. You don't have to practice ethics, and ethics includes forms and ceremonies. You don't have to do that. You don't have to do that, because you are inherently Buddha. But again, Dogen's way is, I think, that unwavering, unstinting, unadulterated commitment to enlightenment.

[19:10]

Enlightenment demands unwavering, unstinting, unadulterated moral commitment. And again, morality includes forms and ceremonies. It's not general morality, it needs to be specific, so you can, you know, you don't just generally perform something, you have a specific script. Like yesterday, I performed something, I read a specific script, and while I was reading that script, a resonance started to happen here. I didn't expect it, but Suzuki Roshi was like right in my face. You know, I remember going to see him, you know, and saying, well, you're going to Tassajara, and I'd like to go with you, but I probably should stay here and do my job as director. And that was the last time he went to Tassajara.

[20:13]

So all that happens, you know, all the resonances of all the Buddhas you ever practice with for eons resonates when you come and talk to your current teacher, which is really worth thinking about even a past teacher, then you remember other teachers. And this resonance sets up, and in this resonance, the distinctions which separate us from meeting Buddha face to face melt away. I wrote something down that I wanted to mention. Christina, could you bring that thing here?

[21:23]

Oh, I kind of forgot, one thing I was going to say was, Gikai came from a tradition where they had this expression, even the lifting of the hand, or the moving of the leg, embodies the Buddha way. And then, the slight change of that is, which makes a big difference, is even the moving of the hand, or the moving of the leg, within your Buddha deportment realizes the way. In other words, you're not just moving your hand, you're moving your hand, you're reaching out and saying to Buddha, any feedback? You're acting sort of like

[22:56]

in Buddha's lap. You're not just doing this and doing that, you're doing it in the context of the way Buddhas live. Thank you. Thank you.

[24:25]

Here's a Dharma teaching, maybe, about the nature of reality. This is a Dharma teaching, maybe. And then, when you hear this, the question is, how is it enacted? How do you perform it? All the characteristics of any experience, or any characteristic, or mark of any experience, are not upright. Any characteristic is not upright. Or, put it positively, any characteristic,

[25:41]

any mark of a phenomenon, is dispositional. Whatever characteristic we see of things, is due to our own dispositions, our own biases, our own inclinations, due to our ancient twisted thought, speech, and postures. Everything that exists for us, exists in dependence on mental imputation, and that mental imputation is dispositional, is not upright. It has to do with our own likes and dislikes. Everything exists in dependence on mental imputation, and that imputation is tied up

[26:51]

with our sense that we need to make those characterizations in order to keep living. Any characteristic is rooted in a split between mind and object, between self and other. All these distinctions are rooted in a split, wholeness, which is our life. Our life is

[28:07]

a split, and something that arises in dependence on conditions, but is a wholeness. It isn't actually split, we don't actually have two lives, a subject and an object. We have one life, which involves subject and object. I like the example that, you know, of course music arises in dependence on certain conditions, like notes, and chords, and so on, but it's a wholeness. But to think that music is composed of notes and chords, actually arises from a sense that

[29:21]

music is split up into those parts, and that there's actually something there that's split up into those things. Actually music can be analyzed into those things, but that analysis, although it's useful for learning certain techniques, in the end is artificial and just conducive to misery. Thank you.

[30:52]

Thank you. Distinctions arise from the view of independent existence. Distinctions arise from the view of independent existence.

[32:24]

There is a teaching of emptiness, and there is a teaching of emptiness, and there is a teaching of emptiness, which says that, there are no things, there is no being, or beings,

[33:44]

before we impute, we project, we overlay our own distinctions, our own disposition on what's happening. And that doesn't mean there is nothing. To think that there's nothing, goes with thinking that there is something, before we make it by our mental imputation. The teaching of emptiness is intended to help us appreciate,

[35:10]

not the absence of an inherent existence, emptiness is the absence of inherent existence. We're not trying to appreciate emptiness. We use emptiness, the teaching of emptiness, to realize the wholeness of life, the wholeness of life, the wholeness of music. The realization of this celebration occurs in this communion,

[36:14]

and this communion is realized in the understanding of this teaching. This teaching is understood in the communion, and the communion is realized by understanding the teaching. Thank you.

[37:19]

In the practice of Grandmotherly Mind, the Dharma of Emptiness is performed. Grandmotherly Mind

[38:49]

Are we, am I, are you, right now, taking care of the deportment of the Buddha with wholehearted devotion? Are you taking care of the deportment of the Buddha as though you were taking care of your only child? If so, there can be the enactment of the Dharma, the teaching, that the world is not really split into self and other.

[40:05]

Grandmotherly Mind which says, all characteristics are dispositional, are not upright. Being upright, to perform the teaching that all distinctions are not upright, and therefore, drop off. Some of you may be as diligent

[42:01]

as Tetsugikai was as head cook. I don't think I'm that diligent. I'd like to be, but the way I am right now, can I be wholeheartedly devoted to the deportment of Buddha? Can this posture and these words

[43:03]

be within the rituals of the Buddha way? Perhaps, I should sit up a little straighter, maybe. Is that a more wholehearted way for me to have this body be devoted to the form and ceremony of being a Buddha? And does this effort

[44:09]

get met? And does this effort realize a Buddha together with a Buddha? And does Buddha together with Buddha realize the teaching of emptiness, which the meeting is performing? And is the meeting open to checking on the understanding of the Dharma, which is being enacted? This particular teaching is a teaching

[45:14]

that we do not practice alone, which includes the teaching that we think we do practice alone. This teaching that we do practice together and no other way also says that we wouldn't be saying this except that people think that they are practicing separately and no other way. The teaching that we do practice together is practicing together with the belief that we don't practice together. The belief and practice of independent existence

[46:24]

is in responsive communion with the understanding of a lack of independent existence. They're always together. Is your present posture enacting that drama, that communion between somebody who thinks that they independently exist and somebody who understands that there's no such thing? Is your present posture enacting that? And are you using the posture of a sentient being and the posture of a Buddha to enact the meeting? Apparently, the great ancestor Tetsugikai

[47:35]

had some work to do on that one. But although he was working very diligently, he didn't quite understand how his work needed to be the enactment of Buddha's body. He did understand pretty well how his sentient being body was running around being a very good cook. But Dogen told him he didn't understand that the body was manifested and the Dharma is performed. He needed to work on that point. And it isn't that he just worked on it one day and stopped. He needed to work on it day after day. So, it seems that we need to work on it day after day,

[48:42]

moment after moment. I offer this body, this mind, which seems to exist independently, to a meeting with the Buddha so that the Buddha body will be manifested and the Dharma will be performed in this world. This is a picture of a practice. This is a vision of a practice which has arisen for beings to enter. Do you see the vision?

[49:49]

Do you see an entry point? Is the door open or closed? If closed, need a key or need another hand to help you open it? If you want to, just ask. I'm supposed to keep my leg elevated for 48 hours, so I was thinking of offering the ritual, the Zen ritual of meeting together in the room with my leg up on a table. So,

[50:52]

if you get asked for doksan today, if you don't want to meet with a person who has his foot up on the table, because that's, I think, the medically advised posture for this person, then you might postpone it until this person recovers his ability to sit cross-legged again. But I'll try this way today, with my leg elevated, if anybody wants to meet with me that way. And we can see about taking care of this form. Those of you who are in the Zen-do have other forms to take care of. So, one final time I ask you, is that grandmother heart, that Zen grandmother heart,

[51:57]

being cared for, being nurtured, the heart which takes care of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, which takes care of the forms and ceremonies of the tradition, as though you were taking care of your only child. Is that alive in you? Do you want it to be alive in you? Please look and see. I'm looking and seeing, too, moment by moment. Okay. Okay.

[53:22]

So, just to say again, the celebration of our wholeness is the realization of the teaching of emptiness. Can we see that our practice here is a celebration of our wholeness? Can you see that you're sitting upright as a celebration of wholeness? Can you see you're eating lunch as a celebration of wholeness? Can you see you're walking meditation? Can you see you're bowing? Can you see you're using the toilet?

[55:01]

Can you see you're washing your face? Can you see you're serving each other and being served? Can you see all the activities as a celebration of our oneness? This is the enactment, the realization of the teaching of emptiness. And all the Buddhas are with you to help you be mindful of the triple treasure in everything that you experience. That's all they want, is for us to realize

[56:05]

the body, the teaching, and the bridge in the world. Do you have a vision of practice now? I hope so. May our intention equally penetrate every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are numberless. I love...

[57:05]

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